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Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the most world title defences in the history of the middleweight division, is the sole nominee for president endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for Sunday’s election. As a result, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing recently.

This position was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.

In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term runs until 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic programme, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.

“As an amateur, I proudly won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he stated. “In my pro career, I won numerous world titles, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.

“I am committed to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in every region of the world.”

The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after the recent Games were marred by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner by 2028.

In the month of February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in Liverpool. For the championships, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for LA 2028.